Given the fashion world's love of all things vintage, what's old will likely become new again. But rather than dig through the flea-market piles for inspiration, today's top designers have a secret weapon: vintage expert Doris Raymond, the proprietor of L.A. emporium The Way We Wore. Raymond has worked with icons such as Michael Kors and Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga, arranged numerous collaborations and supplied items and inspiration to the design and film industries (including pieces for W.E., Almost Famous, and Glee).

After a stint as a DJ in Puerto Rico, Raymond moved to the Bay Area in 1974. She found the streets of San Francisco rife with vintage treasure troves and began scooping up collectibles, eventually filling a three-bedroom apartment with her finds. When it came time to move to a smaller space, she tried selling her finds at the Marin City flea market, near Sausalito. "I actually sold things for profit," she says. "It was like 'Oh my God.' The light bulb went off in my head." By 1981, Raymond had accumulated more than sufficient items to stock a shop and The Way We Wore was born.

Raymond's work with designers really took off about nine years ago when John Galliano walked into her warehouse for the first time and saw what treasures she had amassed. Since then, she has become a valuable resource to dozens more. "Most designers give me buzzwords or storyboards for their next collection, and from that I cull either items from the boutique [or] swatches from the inspiration room," Raymond says. Her most recent client? "Tamara Mellon was in with an entourage of six designers the other day; they typically come in at least once a year."

After Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler stopped by the store one day and saw what Doris was packing, he returned with co-designer Lazaro Hernandez in tow. As they enthusiastically described their current project, Raymond had an "aha" moment and pulled out her collection of baubles from jewelry designers Alex & Lee, who were a favorite of Cher in her Sonny & Cher days. For a look at the collaboration Raymond inspired, check out the label's resort collection for 2012 on the Sche Report.

And since today's collections are tomorrow's vintage, Raymond is already looking to certain pieces as future collectibles: "Haider Ackermann-you can see he really loves women, Rodarte, and certain pieces from Jason Wu." Alex & Lee and Iradj Moini are two of her favorite jewelry designers.

"Vintage is getting bigger and more important because of the whole concept of green," Raymond explains. "When you're talking about sustainability and the economy, and people really appreciating what they already have, to me it is the pinnacle of responsible affluence. It's a way for you to be expressive about who you are, what you put on your body, and set an example." Sounds like a good reason to do some shopping.